how can i tell if my hard drive is dying?

[tokamak]

i have the side panel off of my computer and theres a weird clicking noise coming from it. seems like its coming from my hard drive. im afraid its dying. any way i can tell for sure?

 

[anandfan]

Drives are supposed to make a clicking noise. It's the head moving back and forth between cylinders. Shouldn't be too loud -- barely noticeable on most new drives. I worry when the bearings start to go out and get really loud whining from the drive. Has happened a couple of times and then I replace the drive.

 

[foxkm]

Turn on S.M.A.R.T. drive monitoring in the bios, or look for a windows application which will display the SmArT status of a drive. If its bad, BACKUP QUICK. Clicking usually isn't a good sign..

Foxkm

 

[HardWyred]

Having Read/Write errors would be another sign of impending drive failure.

I found a program called SpeedFan that's supposed to show the SMART status of your drives.
Windows 2k/XP tell you the health of your drives in disk management.

 

[owensdj]

tokamak, go to your drive manufacturer's web site and download their drive diagnostic utility. Letting it check your drive should tell you if there's anything wrong with it.

 

[luminantlapis]

Originally posted by: foxkm
Turn on S.M.A.R.T. drive monitoring in the bios, or look for a windows application which will display the SmArT status of a drive. If its bad, BACKUP QUICK. Clicking usually isn't a good sign..

Foxkm

 

[tokamak]

i turned on SMART. when would it tell me if something is wrong? when i boot up?

 

[tokamak]

Originally posted by: owensdj
tokamak, go to your drive manufacturer's web site and download their drive diagnostic utility. Letting it check your drive should tell you if there's anything wrong with it.

thats a good idea, but i cant seem to find the right program. my HD is an IBM. finding something on their website is like finding a needle in a haystack.

 

[Paulson]

here you go